Dec 08 Mums - Onwards and bloody well upwards!

[Beans36]

How's this? Thought I'd just press on with it!

Christmas is at a really bad time of year. God really should have thought about that one.

Have drunk half a bottle of wine. Missing DH. He works so hard, poor love. X

Aww Beans. Is he off much over Christmas?

Jam Oh dear, all of you ill.

Indith Much sympathy on the sleep front. CC didn't work for us at all. A whole week of wailing for hours, us popping in, one night sleeping through and then up again, albeit teething and snotty. She's back in our bed again and we've decided to keep letting her do that for a while.

If we'd had dd2 first we would not have a 2yr age gap!

Think we have the pox here too. Will see by morning, but it's a bit odd to have a post-viral rash, mid-virus. Was up all night with a temp and bad cough. Plus it's going round the village. I know you have to have it at some point, but will be sad to miss his first nativity on Thursday if he does have it.

Indith, T had a steroid injection when he as a baby with bad bronchitis, but I;m afraid it kept him up all night and he was bouncing off the walls. But i'm sure he did get better after...It's just so hard when they're small and can't communicate with you.

Deids glad to hear DS is on the mend and you had your ma to help you out with the childcare. HOw long are you supposed to keep them out of circulation? And what about siblings if they don't have symptoms? Are you meant to keep them at home too?

Meant to be going to London tomorrow, really hope I can still go (for social and work reasons).

Hons with you on the nightmare second baby. I intended to get all strict and sleep trainy and it went out the window. Well, B has a UTI at the mo, so he's particularly clingy and sad.

oh dear spot, hope for your sake it isn't the pox.

beans, will dh get much of a break?

steroids don't seem to be having wall bouncing effect (calpol does though) but he is being sooooo clingy, quite simply will not let me put him don or remove nipple and I really need a wee! would quite like to brush teeth and take him to bed too but afraid of starting another screaming session. Hope he gets over this and goes back to being a happy hellraiser in the evenings before christmas otherwise I will end up thumping relatives with their staring and well meaning comments (quoting my dad the other day when ds2 was very poorly and screaming at me for hours on end "Is the idea to get him to sleep before you put him down? Why don't you just put him to bed?" Erm........where do I start? Funnily enough I do feed him to sleep and put him down in the bedroom when he is well but he happens to be rather ill thank you). At the moment I'd be happy to go back to pre illness non sleeping as at least he was happy with dh dealing with him in the evening and some of the night.

When he is better though, next chance we get with no teething or illness I'm giving something a go, I have a plan from a friend who got it off a sleep trainer and it is the sort of thing I can cope with. Tbh stuff like CC was pointless when he was smaller and still fairly pointless as he is so sicky that 30 seconds of crying would result in a lot of vomit, he is slightly better now.

Spot, I asked NHS direct how long they should be out of circulation. 5 days from when first spots appear. You can't keep sibling out in case they get it, because they might not. Other Parents just need to suck it up!

DH off from Friday til 1st. Hurray! X

Oh spot...really hope its not the pox. DS is missing his Christmas party this week. He is lots better today, although the spots still look ghastly! And I think he's getting shooting pains because he will be fine then scream its hurting. I believe that they should stay quarantined till the spots scab over...about 5 to 7 days after they appear. And as beans says you can't keep siblings locked up. They might not get it . DD has been exposed several times but never caught it.

Jam sorry to hear your all ill.

Just back from a lovely dinner with my friends....stuffed. But was good to go out after being cooped up all weekend. Dh on babysitting duty.

Eeek! Spot hope it isn't the pox and you still get to go to London. Is the pox more common in winter or have we had an odd run of coincidental pox outbreaks on the thread?

Hurrah for Christmas holidays beans!

Sorry for the radio silence ladies! But sorrier to hear of all the illness - DB and Indith, that sounds awful Jam and Spot - any better?

It's been a bit mad here - all my family at the weekend, other dinner guests, DP's sister and her family over from Bermuda....and the oven has packed up! The hob works but the oven part is as dead as a dodo. We can't get someone in before Christmas so our Christmas lunch will be interesting! But am not too stressed about it.

I am rushing to finish my cards but I did just want to check in for now and hope to be back tomorrow evening.

Owowowowowowowowowowowowoowowowowowowowowowowowowowo!

I just slipped while grating chocolate and lost half my thumb nail. It was hanging off so have bound the thumb as tight as I can. throbs like hell.

Jamie's epic hot chocolate had better be fucking epic.

It is pretty epic.

Thumb still hurts.

How are all the poxy children? I didn't keep DS1 off school when DS2 had it. It took him 2 weeks to get it once DS2 came out with it.

Indith, ouch!! How's your thumb?

T is totally covered in spots now, but hearing about Diedsboy's experience I think it could be much worse. I did make it to London in the end, and was worth it even though I felt guilty for leaving T. He does have bad diarhorrea (sp) and temp though so is quite poorly with it. Which day are the spots meant to be worse?

I have promised to do a nativity play with him today as he'll be missing his own, although as he was a shepherd I'll have to be Mary and Joseph (and the star, Kings) with B as a very raucous baby Jesus.

Indith* that sounds bad. Should't you be going to the hospital?

Morning!

Thumb still hurts if I put pressure on it. Am keeping it under wraps for now! It was just the nail ripped off, surprisingly little blood. Sure it will be ok soon, I'm guessing it stops hurting and then at some point the nail grows back. My mother always tells the story of when she was sailing and slipped, grabbed onto a rope but fell over the side, her fingers trapped between the 2 bits of rope that she was holding on to. Her nails all got ripped off. Every.Single.One.And she landed straight into the salty sea. OUCH!

This should be motivation to stop nail biting (I know I know), it it had been longer maybe just the tip would have come off!

Dh has got a promotion (yay) working away again (boo!). We have a LOT to talk about regarding work, me starting uni etc since we always said it would only work if he was doing the bulk of the child care. I'd be fine with it if I didn't have uni looming in the background as I quite enjoyed it when he worked away before. We'd have to sort ds2 out before he started though! Last day of steroids today, the wheeze seems a lot better so hopefully he will start getting less clingy again. Pointless doing anything now though when we are about to start a grand relatives tour but after christmas the big ones are going to stay down with my parents so we might move him into ds2's room and give it a whirl.

Spot, I'd say days 3 and 4 were the worst here.

Morning...spot as Kayz said day 3 and 4 definitely the worst for DS. But its remarkable how quick they rally. DS is all scabby now, looks an absolute sight but he is much, much happier. Poor T, hope he feels better soon.

DD threw up everywhere this morning. Great. She has a temp,cough & cold but not sure if its pre Pox or something else. Poor thing took herself back off to bed and is currently fast asleep. I've taken the day off work as I don't think FIL could handle sick child AND scabby child. Time to clean the house and made productive use of my time in between moping up sick etc!

indith Your nail stories actually make me feel a bit faint. Sounds awful and very painful.

Morning, sorry have been lurking but not posting. Still have my niece here, and also clinging to DS2 who starts school proper after the Christmas break. He had a half day without me obviously Monday and after a little protest and sadness while at home, he sailed into the classroom without looking back. He has another day tomorrow so will see how he goes. DH is taking them to school which, they always get excited about.

Then we are off on holidays tomorrow at midday after school finishes. Hopefully, the rest of NL hasn't had the same idea and we get stuck in traffic. We are driving to Nuremberg for a night stop and a look at the Christmas markets, then onto Kaprun in Austria to get some snow action.

Sorry about all the spots. My two were as Kayz says, worse on day 3 & 4. Not fun.

Indith job promotion for DH sounds both exciting & like throwing a spanner in the works. Will need much thought, esp if he'll be traveling. Sleepwise, we took a 'whatever got us through the night' approach & both have turned out to be good sleepers, no sign of any of the 'bad habits' people speak of. Oh and ouch on the thumb, superficial traumas hurt the most because the nerve endings are all close to the surface, so double ouch

Lady is your oven not that old? Can you find out if any of your neighbours will be on holidays and get their keys and use their oven on the day?

5 sleeps to go. Children actually wept because they're missing DH so much today. His holidays start tomorrow! Hurray!

Poor proxy lot. Are you coping?

Indith, how's your thumb?

I'm out in London tonight and want to go to bed. DD2 up 4 times last night, but saved it til 5am, so have had a bit more sleep than usual!

Horkshoooo (snoring noise).

I'm going to be like in you in Jan, Beans - DP's trial starts on about the 11th and will run for at least three months if not longer....will barely see him. In fact, he's staying in London tonight cos there have been some preliminary hearings. I will miss him but at the same time I know I am going to get a lot more done than I usually do. That or spend a lot more time on here

Oh blimey, Indith, that thumb thing sounds seriously sore. And your Mum's story made me WINCE. When are you due to start your course - next October?

My Secret Santa gift arrived today, I am saving it until Christmas. Didn't recognise the writing and no clues on the postmark, so not a clue as to the sender!

Vag, I hope you have yet another absolutely glorious hol. Nope, the oven isn't that old, it's a Smeg range, but just out of warranty of course And we need a specialist Smeg guy cos it's the timer clock that's broken and has cut the whole thing out and so we will need a specialist part. We looked on the internet and they cost about £250 without labour (just an effing replacement clock thingy) so we are bracing ourselves for a big one. Everyone we know around here is using their oven on Christmas day. But at least the hobs are still good (and the microwave ) We have my lovely FIL with us on Christmas Day, he comes every year. You were asking me about him Vag, I still see him every couple of weeks or so. He is very precious to us - like just another parent really - which is especially lovely for DP as he only has his Mum, with whom he hasn't got a brilliant relationship, and of course he despises her DH.

I had my stepmother here all day today. She seemed to enjoy herself, which pleased me. She makes such an effort with the girls. She has no kids of her own and although she was a midwife for aeons she's not that experienced with kids (other than when they are hours old!) - I'm so glad she wants to have a relationship with them and I hope it cheers her a bit. I do enjoy making a fuss of her when she comes, she was devoted to my Dad and it must be so hard for her being on her own. Vag, you were asking if her and my Mum could ever be pals - um, a big no there My parents had a terrible marriage and my stepmother is the woman my Dad had an affair with for 8 years, and even over 20 yrs later (and post my Dad's death!) my Mum is still fairly bitter about it all. I don't tell her I see my Stepmum because I don't want to upset her. But I think that's all ok. I absoutely adore my Mum and I understand why she feels that way - equally, I am not going to leave my Stepmum all alone. Phew, that was an essay - sorry! Will post and then write more.

Arti, I was so worried about all that stuff with your DH. It sounded horrendous. He was very naughty, not going to the hospital - I do think he needed to, but I am hoping he is ok now. And how are you?

Spot and DB, you are making me fear the pox even more! It sounds bloody awful. However, they surely have to be over the worst of it by the time Christmas comes....here's hoping.

Going back a bit - Snowwombat - I am so so pleased you are back here with a DD That is lovely.

I took the girls to the Christingle service at the very sweet church up the road yesterday evening. It was a service predominantly for little kids and I thought it was going to be all candles and oranges and The Light of the World (which is how I remember it) but the vicar majored on Jesus' blood quite a lot and wove blood coloured wool all around the kids in the church to represent it. Er....DD1 was up twice in the night with nightmares about lions and blood and I think it was partly the church stuff. So it has put me off a bit. There's a crib service on Christmas Eve and we were thinking about taking the girls (we both love carols) but if it's going to be all Ozzy Osbourne again, we might give it the swerve.

My throat is rather suspiciously sore. Are you feeling better, Jam?

The girls' hobby horses have arrived. They are beautifully made but smaller than expected. My BIL has made them THE most amazing dolls house I have ever seen. It is just a stonker.

Right....lots more I wanted to say but better carry on with my wrapping!

Hello ladies... Have just ordered a nice big cock for Christmas.

Well one of these anyway www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Addlington-Apple-Fed-Cockerel/67774011 As we left it too late to order anythng from the butchers. Have been tittering to myself ever since.

Arti, how is your DH? That sounds really scary and hope it was just a one off - best to get him to see the doc anyway one he's better to have a quick check up.

ZJ great news about your DH, i did think of you the other day when we had our work Christmas lunch then thought to myself "hang on, is it normal to be celebrting a friend's husbands nads?" :)

Deids and Spot, hope the pox are done wth soon. And that DeidsDD and Indith's thumb are better as well. Yikes.

Indith the promotion sounds like a great thing ut at the wrong time, really hope you manage to work something out. On sleep, lordy both of our were bloody waful, then somehow at about 14 months managed to work out sleeping all night for themselves, thank the lord, so no particular advice but basically whatever it takes to get you some rest too - if E wakes up I generally go into the spare room and have her in the bed with me, At least if I'm not asleep I can shut my eyes and be lying down...

Well the school thing, we're really crossing our fingers that S gets into the local school - it's not actually our closest unfortunately, it doesn't have an official catchment and while last year they got to criterion 8 (!) on admissions, the year before it was criterion 3 and barely a mile away - we're about 1.5. So hoping she gets in there :)

Happy birthday to all the big four year olds!

Grrr just lost a huge post as my computer ran an update. Hope all the ill people are better. Need to wrap presents for school but then will be back XXX

Nice cock JJ. I bet it will be most enjoyable on Christmas day.

How goes the pox Spot? Not good timing with Christmas. I'm glad Deidsboy is on the mend. How is DD Deids? I hope she hasn't got norovirus.

Have you had the big promotion discussion Indith? would you consider deferring uni? Or would your DH be prepared to take a career backseat for a while?

ZJ After your DH was quoted in the paper i showed DD1 and told her that I "knew" the family who grew all the sprouts for Christmas. DD was quite taken with this as she loves sprouts. At her school Xmas dinner yesterday she told her class that she knew the "really famous" sprout man. Her teacher thought it the best boast ever
(bearing in mind that her class includes the child of a very famous BBC presenter and Kylie's manager!).

Beans how was your bight back in the Big Smoke? I hope you have a lovely time now your DH will be home a bit more.

Veg enjoy Austria! I'm mucho jealous of your White Christmas. It's rain, rain, rain here?

Anymore flooding up your way Kayz? I think it's the South's turn
now. Too. Much. Rain.

LadyT do not forget my offer of a week in London house sitting during your DP's trial. I will let you know as soon as our holiday dates are confirmed. By the way, isn't this New Year your self imposed deadline for deciding whether to go for número trois? How are you feeling about that?

I hope Rubes is having a good time with her family.

I'm on holiday now! 16 days with no work. Bliss. Just got the worry of the anomaly scan to deal with. I so hope it gives us no more reason to worry about abnormalities. The scan is on New Years Eve so it will either be a lovely or a terrible way to end the year. I'm quite nervous but pleased that Christmas is hear to distract me.

Oh and DH got checked out. It was probably a run of the mill flu faint but as am aside they discovered he has slightly high BP. We already knew he has hereditary high cholesterol and so it's a bit if a worry. His grandfather dropped dead of a heart attack in his 50s so there us a family history of cardiac problems. The thing is we can't think of many lifestyle changes to bring his BP down: he swims twice a week, eats loads if veg and only has red meat about twice a week, we only really drink at social events and never when just at home, his BMI is 24.5 so just about ok. Any ideas???

I'm sorry, I know I go on about sleep a lot. Far too much. YOu are probably all fed up of me and thinking "well if you will go and have another baby what do you expect?" but seriously, I am happy to co sleep, to take the "whatever it takes" road until he sleeps because I believe that they all find their way in their own time but how the hell do I apply that to ds2? He goes to sleep around 7pm llike the others so my choices are- go to bed at 7pm with him or sit on the sofa with him asleep on me. If I try to sling him he will wake and scream. If I move he will wake and scream. When I go to bed and have to move to go to the loo or brush my teeth I then have to spend ages settling him again. Plus there are things to do lime washing, ironing, loading the dishwasher, sweeping the floors at the end of the day. Simple, every day stuff. Then we have the wake up and SCREAM the house down at night. He is cuddled next to me, usually has a nipple in his mouth but he still does it and is impossible to settle again. Got him settled again last night after using baby videos on youtube (seems to snap him out of it) but he started screaming again ann hour later. It was around 5 by the time the screaming stopped but then he was happy and AWAKE so that was it for the night. Poor ds1 is knackered today. He never gets out of bed but when I got him up this morning he said "I didn't sleep very well because of the screaming" :(

I actually suggested throwing ds2 out of the window to dh last night.

We are going to be so popular with various relatives these holidays . My sister has chronic pain conditions which disrupt her sleep cycle so sleeps badly at the best of time, she is really not going to thank me when ds2 keeps her up half the night screaming.

Right, I'm done venting. I'm going to crack on with dd's birthday cake and I'll be back to read your news later.

Hi all! Haven't a chance in keeping up at the moment. have read the odd pages when I can and wanted to say sorry about the result Beans, however great that you are ok with it all.
My SS arrived the other day so thank-you to you! It's under the tree x
Busy here. Colds & Flu, major naughtiness from ds which I'm struggling with- parents / kids and myself are / have been full of cold / flu.
Lots of Highs and lows which I guess accompany most situations when family are under one roof.
Hope all are well x